It is common practice in warehousing and shipping goods to support them on pallets. Typically, a pallet is a wooded platform having a horizontal plate, often made of spaced boards, and parallel upright boards on which the plate rests. The upright beams traverse the respective sides of the plate, and a third beam may traverse the plate midway between the other two. The plate is secured to the upper edges of the beams. Thus a pallet constitutes a platform, a few inches high, with an open space under the platform.
Machinery is used to lift pallets and move them about. The machinery commonly used comprises a fork, having a pair of long arms which are moved under the plate of a pallet and then lifted to elevate the pallet. The machinery also comprises wheels, and often propulsion means so that the machinery and the pallet may be moved to another location where the pallet is lowered. Large machinery of this type is generally call a fork-lift truck. Smaller machinery of this type is usually called a pallet truck. Fork-lift trucks are distinguished from pallet trucks by providing a seat on which the operator rides, whereas a pallet truck is designed for an operator who walks along behind the truck. Pallet trucks may be designed to be pulled or pushed about by the operator, or to be self-propelled.